Giroud scores hat-trick as Chelsea crash Dynamo Kiev 5 – 0

The French forward’s an early effort from Willian’s corner set the tone for the Blues, who arrived in Kiev with a commanding 3-0 lead from the first leg. Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick as Chelsea thrashed Dynamo Kiev to move into the Europa League quarter-finals with an 8-0 aggregate win.

Giroud swept in his second of the night from Marcos Alonso’s sublime cross to register his eighth goal in the competition this season. With the visitors in total control, Alonso tapped in the third goal from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross before the break.

Kiev captain Serhiy Sydorchuk went close to a consolation for the hosts in the second period, hitting the post from close range. But Giroud completed his hat-trick with a header from another Willian corner before Hudson-Odoi’s placed effort put the gloss on a dominant display.

Chelsea will discover their quarter-final and potential semi-final opponents on Friday at 12:00 GMT.

Giroud’s perfect night

While Giroud has started just two Premier League matches for Chelsea in the last four months, he has relished his outings in the Europa League. Since his last domestic goal against Tottenham on 24 November 2018, the 32-year-old has scored eight goals in seven appearances in Europe.

And another clinical performance ensured he left the Olympic Stadium in Kiev as the Europa League’s top scorer with nine goals. One-touch finishes for his first two goals of the evening exemplified his prowess from close-range, giving home goalkeeper Denys Boyko no chance.

Alertness and anticipation allowed him to steer Willian’s corner past the Kiev keeper for his first goal from around six yards out. And his movement created the space for him to connect powerfully with Alonso’s cross to thump in a second from the centre of the hosts’ penalty area.

His final effort, a header from another Willian corner also highlighted his aerial threat as he capitalised on shoddy marking to seal a perfect hat-trick, comprising of right-foot, left-foot and headed goals.